


under the mistletoe

by fullsunlet



Series: Christmas Christmas Time is Here [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 09:29:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21967177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fullsunlet/pseuds/fullsunlet
Summary: Mark hangs mistletoes in the night sky to steal Donghyuck’s first kiss.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Series: Christmas Christmas Time is Here [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1579702
Comments: 6
Kudos: 128
Collections: Markhyuck





	under the mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

> \- I actually finished this before they dropped the mistletoe cover. It’s fate  
> \- (reposting from my jaedo fic) it's my favourite holiday so i'll be posting a series of fics for 12 days (odd days for jaedo and even days for markhyuck - but they'll be in the same universe like day 1 and day 2 belong to the same setting, day 3 and day 4 to another one, and etc.

Watching Doyoung struggling to take off his glove and frowning at his phone screen shouldn’t be so funny. But Donghyuck doesn’t bother stifling his laughter as he blindly hits the table, whacking Mark’s fingers at times instead. It’s actually rather sad to see the way Doyoung sinks to the ground, hugging his knees as he comes into a squatting position.

“I feel bad,” Mark says suddenly.

Donghyuck stops observing Doyoung and turns to face Mark, finding a small frown on his face. “Why?”

Gesturing vaguely in Doyoung’s direction, Mark explains, “He looks so cold out there. He must be freezing. And he’s reading our messages about ditching him at the very last minute.” Looking outside again, Mark sighs, shaking his head in disappointment. “I don’t know what’s gotten into Johnny. Telling us not to show up like that.” Then he gives Donghyuck a hopeful expression. “It’s a prank, isn’t it? Johnny’s going to give us the cue to appear in front of him, right?” The thought of abandoning Doyoung simply being an elaborate joke to Johnny doesn’t sit well with Mark though. “Isn’t this too much? Even for Johnny.”

Rolling his eyes, Donghyuck snaps his fingers in front of Mark. “Just trust Johnny on this one. Doyoung will be happier at the end of the night than if he spent it with us.”

Trusting Johnny should be easy. No matter how over-the-top Johnny’s schemes always seemed, everything always turned out fine. Mark’s been on the other end of Johnny’s plans many times and not once did he feel like Johnny had actually gone overboard. But tonight feels different. Tonight makes Mark feel like he’s betraying Doyoung too.

As Mark continues looking at Doyoung, he shakes Donghyuck’s hand so that the other would pay him attention. “I think we should go out there. I mean, he’s already paid for the tickets. What is he going to do with them? Or we should pay him back at least if we really aren’t going to turn up. And- wait.” There’s a person walking over to where Doyoung’s squatting and Mark squints, trying to see if it’s someone he knows. “Who is that?”

Eagerly, Donghyuck immediately whips his head back to look outside the glass panel. When he spots the man approaching Doyoung, he lets out a squeal as he starts whacking Mark’s arm. “That’s Jaehyun!” Donghyuck exclaims as if it’s self-explanatory.

“Who’s Jaehyun?” Mark questions, giving Donghyuck a blank look.

Right, sometimes Donghyuck forgets that Mark wasn’t in his friends circle back in college. “Doyoung’s one true love,” he says the last three words with so much love in his own eyes and he clasps his hands together just to be dramatic and also to emphasise his point.

Mark laughs at Donghyuck’s theatrics. “So that’s peach boy?” he asks, raising both his brows at Donghyuck and the other grins back. Mark may not have hung out with Donghyuck or his group of friends back when they were in college but he started learning more about them after graduation since he started working in the same company most of them went to. It only got easier for him to figure out about their past relationships when he started dating Donghyuck, even if it’s only been a month.

“I told you to trust Johnny on this one! It’s been so long since they met!” Donghyuck gushes like he would whenever he watches a romance film.

Shyly, Mark uses a finger to tap Donghyuck’s pinky. “What about your one true love?”

Looking back at Mark again, Donghyuck smiles, petting the back of Mark’s hand. “Right here.”

“Mine’s right here too,” Mark says proudly even if Donghyuck didn’t ask him. Then he leans forward on the table and Donghyuck mimics him. “Are we going to spend our whole date stalking Doyoung and his one true love?”

Tracing random shapes and patterns on the back of Mark’s hand, Donghyuck hums thoughtfully. Then he turns Mark’s hand around and entwines all their five fingers together. “We haven’t started our date, though?” Donghyuck only laughs when Mark gives him a look of confusion. “Our date starts now.”

*

Donghyuck drags Mark to an arcade on the last level of the mall they’re in. Once they step foot into the place, it’s Mark taking the lead, pulling Donghyuck all the way to the back where the basketball hoops are usually at. They don’t see the hoops but Donghyuck spots something else more interesting (to him) anyway.

“I’m going to trash you,” Donghyuck announces as he picks up the gun and adjusts his stance. He points the weapon towards the screen and shoots once even though the game hasn’t even started.

Scoffing, Mark picks up his own gun and points it at the screen to ready himself. “You can try. Just don’t kill me.”

The game begins to load their map as Donghyuck says, “Isn’t that the point of the game?”

Mark doesn’t respond in time and gets shot, _by Donghyuck_ , a few times before he decides he should hide and try regaining some health first. “We’re in the same team, Hyuck!” Mark waves at the screen where the enemies are flooding the area.

Shrugging, Donghyuck continues shooting at the screen, cheering himself and Mark on when the other finally rejoins the game.

They end up clearing five maps before it’s game over for them both. (Donghyuck does kill Mark in the end though he insists that it was an accident).

“Basketball now.” Mark is determined to get to the right game this time when he takes Donghyuck’s hands. “I’ve got to show off my moves. And impress you.”

The words make Donghyuck choke on air before he bursts out laughing. “Stop trying to flirt, Mark. You suck at it.”

A month ago, Mark would probably have blushed to the tips of his ears with Donghyuck’s teasing but one month of dating the other boy has made him grow accustomed to the little comments Donghyuck enjoyed making about him.

After inserting the coins, Mark looks over his shoulder to give Donghyuck a smirk and Donghyuck plays along by acting like a teenager in love, swooning over how handsome Mark is. This does make Mark blush furiously though, and his ears grow red. It throws him off his game and he misses one too many shots.

“You suck at this more than you suck at flirting,” Donghyuck concludes when Mark’s ball misses the hoop yet again.

Picking up the last ball, Mark throws it at Donghyuck who catches it easily. “You try then.”

“I’m bad at this,” Donghyuck says with a nervous laugh and then throws the ball. It enters the hoop just at the timer ends and he cheers, shouting _buzzer beater_ before jumping on Mark’s back. “I’m good at anything after all.”

Mark nods in agreement as he hooks his arms over Donghyuck’s legs, carrying him to another part of the arcade. “How does the jackpot machine sound? We can get some tickets to exchange for things while we’re at it.”

Donghyuck leans forward to press a kiss to Mark’s cheek in agreement, and Mark’s happy for the fact that Donghyuck can’t see how red his face is and if Donghyuck can feel how hot Mark’s ear is when he starts playing with his ear, he doesn’t say anything.

They receive a whole lot of tickets from the jackpot machine despite not winning the grand prize, or even any of the big ones. Being able to fold them into smaller rows makes Donghyuck happy enough.

“Which one do you want?” Mark asks excitedly as he scans the row of toys sitting atop the counter.

“The Nerf Blaster.” Donghyuck says resolutely, eyes fixed on the object. There should be a more appropriate choice of prize for two college graduates almost in their mid-twenties but it’s the only prize in Donghyuck’s eyes.

Nodding enthusiastically, Mark pats Donghyuck on the shoulder. “That’s what I was thinking about too.”

So they head back to the ticket-counting machines and slip their tickets into one of them, row by row. Donghyuck intensely watches the numbers increase and increase and increase, until they finally stop. He turns to Mark, frowning as he asks, “That’s all?”

Sighing, Mark gathers back their tickets and he nods sadly. “That’s all.”

“We’re like ten thousand tickets away from the Nerf gun,” Donghyuck deadpans, covering his face in disappointment.

Looking around the arcade, Mark spots a few other couples and groups of friends. “Do you want to give it to someone else?”

“No,” comes Donghyuck’s immediate reaction and he snatches the tickets from Mark’s hands before stuffing it into his bag. “We’re keeping them.” Then he smiles at Mark. “For our next date.” 

Grinning, Mark gives Donghyuck a thumbs-up. “That’s what I was thinking too, honestly.”

“We are so perfect for one another,” Donghyuck sighs dramatically. “Let’s get out of here. There’s a place I want to go to.”

“Now?” Mark asks with wide eyes. He pulls out his phone to check the time and he wonders what kind of place would still be open at eleven at night unless if it’s a restaurant or cafe, or a place that has some special opening hours because it's Christmas season. “Where?”

A conspiratol smile sneaks its way onto Donghyuck’s face. “Surprise.”

It could be what the word means or it could be a place. Better to be safe than sorry, so Mark decides to ask, “Where’s that?” Mark gets his answer even before Donghyuck replies by the judgmental look the other shoots him.

Groaning, Donghyuck shakes his head in disappointment, not even bothering to conceal it as he grabs Mark’s hand and starts pulling the other out of the arcade. “I meant the place I’m bringing you to is going to be a surprise, Mark so I’m not telling you.”

*

“You can ice-skate?” Mark asks in disbelief when he sees the words _ice rink_ glowing in orange neon lights on the building they’re standing in front of.

“You can’t?” Donghyuck jokes back.

Laughing, Mark shakes his head. “No, but seriously.”

With a grin, Donghyuck nods. “A bit,” he admits. “I used to do it in high school, then the first two years of college and then I stopped because I got too busy.”

Before they enter the building, Mark stops walking and pulls Donghyuck’s hand to stop the other as well. At Donghyuck’s questioning look, Mark smiles sheepishly as he says, “You’ve got to teach me.”

“You can count on me.”

Mark has complete and absolute faith in Donghyuck, eagerly following the other into the twenty-four hour rink. (“It’s only for this week because it’s the holiday season so people stay out later, I guess,” Donghyuck explained).

When Mark finally enters the rink, he realises that he placed too much hope in Donghyuck.

As soon as they both step onto the ice, Donghyuck picks Mark’s hand up and places it on the railing by the side before he skates away. There’s not much for Mark to complain about since Donghyuck didn’t do something like pull him into the centre of the rink and then let go. Besides, Mark now got a free show of Donghyuck skating and it’s an absolutely beautiful sight.

It’s been five minutes since Donghyuck left Mark alone, the digital clock hanging near the stands say so (not that Mark is paying any attention to it, his focus solely on Donghyuck).

“You looked amazing out there,” Mark says when Donghyuck skates back to him, holding onto the railings next to Mark to stop the momentum.

Ducking his head in embarrassment, Donghyuck then nudges Mark in the shoulder. “Your turn to try.”

Pressing his lips together, Mark looks at the open area in apprehension. “Can we stick to the railings for now?”

It all goes well for Mark until he almost loses his footing and his legs lose control, moving back and forth alternately, only stopping when he finds balance by gripping onto the railings for his dear life. He can feel his heart beating loudly in his ears and he gulps a deep breath to calm himself down. Donghyuck’s laughter shouldn’t make him feel at ease, especially when the other boy is laughing at him but it does.

Scowling at Donghyuck, Mark tries to stand in an upright position and fails, this time falling backwards onto the ice. “You’re awful,” Mark complains when he sees Donghyuck pointing his phone’s camera at him.

When Mark falls for the nth time, Donghyuck’s already armed with phone, but he’s also a little unsteady on his feet this time from how much he’s laughing. Tears form at the side of his eyes and he can’t even wipe them away properly because of the gloves he’s wearing.

Out of spite, Mark remains seated on the floor, not trying to get up by himself this time. He watches as Donghyuck slowly skates over to him and all of a sudden, Donghyuck slips. And falls.

It takes a while for Mark to react and when he does, he’s whacking the top of the ice with one hand and pointing at Donghyuck in disbelief with his other. 

When their eyes meet, Donghyuck realises how close their faces are and he backs away on instinct. It would have been so easy to just lean in and kiss Mark, finally kiss Mark on the lips. But Donghyuck doesn’t have enough courage to do it. Not yet. He’s nervous about kissing Mark though it wouldn’t be his first kiss, nor would it be Mark’s. Yet there’s something different, even just the thought of kissing Mark.

“Let’s return our skates?” Donghyuck suggests, trying to ignore his heart beating rapidly in his chest.

*

“You were so adorable, Mark.” It was all Donghyuck kept saying back when they were on the ice rink, laughing every time Mark almost slipped on the ice, whipping his phone out to take a video every time Mark actually fell on his butt, but making sure he’s okay and holding his hand for the rest of the time There was no way that Donghyuck would let Mark seriously get injured. “I still can’t believe you’re my boyfriend.” It’s a sudden thought, an even more sudden admission, and it makes Donghyuck freeze.

Mark stops right next to Donghyuck and feels his face burn. While they've been dating for a month now, Mark hasn’t actually heard Donghyuck calling him his _boyfriend_. Though more than the title itself, Mark’s shocked at Donghyuck’s words because he’s the one who can’t believe that he can call Donghyuck his.

At Mark’s lack of response, Donghyuck starts rambling. “Yeah, I mean, you’re kind of amazing, you know? I was crushing on you throughout college but I never had the guts to confess to you. Well, actually I did. Once. But you were drunk then. Really drunk so you probably didn’t hear it. Who would have thought that we would end up in the same company?”

When Donghyuck talks, Mark panics. When Donghyuck talks about _him_ , he panics even more. When Donghyuck talks about things that he didn’t know about _him_ , he goes into full panic mood.

So much so that when his name leaves Donghyuck’s lips again, Mark stops walking at once, turning his body so quickly that Donghyuck’s words get muffled the moment their lips connect. Mark misses the other boy’s lips at first honestly, almost kissing his chin instead but Mark is quick to slot their mouths together just so Donghyuck can shut up about how cute his ears is. Because Mark doesn’t think he can take Donghyuck complimenting him another second and might combust out of embarrassment, affection, and how much he loves the younger boy.

It’s Donghyuck who pulls away first and Mark finds himself chasing after Donghyuck’s lips only to pull back shyly when he realises what he’s doing.

“What was that?” Donghyuck asks, breathless, cheeks flushed and he tries to bury more of his face into his scarf.

Mouth opening and closing, Mark can’t really think of anything to say, but he ends up saying, “Mistletoe.”

Donghyuck blinks at Mark, then looks up at the night sky filled with stars, such a pretty sight, then looks back at Mark again. “We’re outside?”

“I wanted you to stop talking,” Mark rushes out and the moment he realises what he said, he knows that he screwed up.

“You wanted - ” Donghyuck glares at Mark. “You wanted me to stop talking?”

One mistake turns into two and Mark just can’t stop his mouth from running. “You were talking too much!”

“I was talking too much?”

“I was _dying_ \- ”

“Mark Lee,” Donghyuck hisses. “I’m going to kill yo - ”

“ - because you’re so cute when you talk about me.”

“That’s…” Donghyuck pauses, tries not to gush over how adorable Mark is again. Or maybe, he does want to talk all about Mark again just so the other would kiss him to shut his mouth. “That’s a lot of self-love you have there,” he concludes eventually because of course Mark would find him cute when he’s talking about the latter. “I can talk about you more if you that’s what it takes for you to find me cute,” Donghyuck says out of jest, not expecting Mark to take it seriously.

But Mark does take it seriously and he rushes to assure Donghyuck that he’s cute _all the time_. Blushing, Mark looks down at his feet, mumbles something, so softly that he doesn’t even catch what he says.

“What?”

“Saidiluvyou.” Mark takes a deep breath before looking into Donghyuck’s eyes. “I said I love you.”

Donghyuck wastes no time clashing their lips together. It feels better than their first kiss, there’s no lips to chin this time or forgetting to breathe as their mouths move against one another. Sighing into the kiss, Donghyuck lifts his arms to rest them on Mark’s shoulders as he loosely winds his hands around the other boy’s neck while Mark’s hands find their way to his hips.

When they pull apart again, Donghyuck’s grinning and Mark is _still_ dying.

“What was that for?” Mark manages to ask anyway, coughing in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

Laughing, Donghyuck points to the night sky, eyes twinkling like the stars above. “Mistletoe.”

“Don’t make fun of me,” Mark doesn’t mean for it to come out as a whine but it does and Donghyuck’s laughing at him. Again.

“I love you too, Mark. Happy one month anniversary.”

Pulling Donghyuck in for another kiss, Mark makes a mental note to decorate his house with actual mistletoes before Donghyuck goes over for Christmas dinner.

**Author's Note:**

> Self promotion time...so if you liked this, please [read this](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21511738) too :’D next update is on the weekend!
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/fullsunlet)
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!


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